Monthly Archives: February 2018

THE STORM QUEEN COMETH! From the “Don’t-you-just-KNOW-it” files: Guest Director and Veteran ‘Traxer VICKI BAUM – who would NEVER have imagined herself performing characters when she walked through the doors of Voicetrax nigh these ten years ago – has just scored a BIG “bucket list” item: the TOP BADDY in the global mobile video game VAINGLORY: The Storm Queen! Oooooooooooh… Millions of gamers participate in The Vainglory Premier League, culminating in annual championship tournaments. And when Vicki did her pre-session research on the title, what should she find but another Voicetrax-dominated video game! Other Vainglory-cast ‘Traxers: LARA ASMUNDSON, JIM EDGAR, DAVE FENNOY, CLAIRE FRY, DAVID GAST, GAVIN HAMMON, ROGER JACKSON, CHUCK KOUROUKLIS, LOUISA MACKINTOSH, BILL MEHNER, CHRISTIAN NIELSON-BUCKHOLDT, JULIA NORTON and MICHAEL ROBLES! You gotta love when Voicetrax dominates… To witness Vicki’s takeover of the Vainglory Universe for yourself, feast your eyes on the video linked here…

BREAKING NEWS: ‘TRAXER REPORTS ON NATIONWIDE BIGFOOT SIGHTINGS! It’s true – if you’ve kept up at all with current events, you know by now that Sasquatch has definite opinions about Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. And now, it’s down to ‘Traxer DEVIN GLISCHINSKI to pass along advice and life lessons about these elusive Jack Link’s zealots, as seen in the link below! Here’s how Devin got the job:

“It is not lost on me that only 5 years ago I walked into the Finding Your Voice lecture and realized that I was in a place that felt like home and where I felt like I could truly succeed for the first time. I’m not going to lie, I took A LOT of classes to get myself to where I wound up: I won TOP Voice LA and got to DPN and audition for a week with some of the most talented actors in the country. I also wound up getting represented by STARS the Agency in SF and thus my professional journey was only beginning. I also put in a ton of work, not only at the school but in my own life to afford myself this opportunity. A lot of long nights led to being through the Voicetrax doors and auditioning for an agency as a professional.

At the end of 2017 I proposed this goal to myself: Get 1 “check avail” every month. That’s it. It’s not BOOKING every month, it’s not booking a certain job (Car, Beer, National TV commercial), but it’s simply to get a check avail. What that means for the uninitiated is that a potential client is checking your availability to work for them during a specific time frame. Guess what: sometimes they’ll check and they’ll use someone else. However, with that check avail, you’ve put yourself on the map with your agents and with the producers that you are someone who does good work and should be considered for a future project.

At the beginning of 2018, I got a check avail (and then the BOOKING) for Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. The best part is that I remember laughing at these Sasquatch commercials when they first came out with my buddies… I absolutely attribute it to all of the hard work but also the simple goal setting mindset. This job has been one of the most fun and easily the most noticeable of my very young career. In the session, I had to utilize many tools learned in the many classes that I’ve taken along the way: Give us 3 different takes in a row (Tom Pinto), Go big with this one (“Shoot both barrels of the shotgun”: Chuck Kourouklis), Make your decision and GO (3, 2, 1 with Brian Sommer), Give me a fast take (ACT FASTER – Samantha Paris)…

The best part was, I was able to do all of this and we had a GREAT time making commercials about a mythological creature who’ll hurt you if you don’t eat beef jerky (also kinda like Chuck K.)”

NICE GOING, Devin! You sound fantastic, and we ALL congratulate you… even Chuck!

THE FIRST TRIPLE THREAT HAS BEEN CROWNED! This weekend we held the first of three “Triple Threat” classes, each of which features three guest directors covering a specific voice-over genre. Students who are selected as a top performer by ALL THREE DIRECTORS for a given class get a free private lesson with Samantha! They’re also automatically advanced to the Triple Threat Finals Round in the Fall; see the 30th Anniversary Voicetrax Catalogue for full details. For this weekend’s Triple Threat: Commercials round, we congratulate MICHAEL RANKINS on being recognized by all three directors as a top performer! SCOTT PARKIN, one of the three directors, was blown away by everyone, and here’s what he had to say:

“I’m always so thrilled with the talent level & work ethic of your people. They really work hard to apply the lessons and strive hard to do their best work. To me a real indicator of this is the second takes they lay down. If they aren’t vulnerable enough to stretch on the first take and listen to the notes and direction… then the second take is often much like the first. That doesn’t happen with your people, they take the notes, modify the read and nail it. I found it extremely difficult to pick just 3 people who were competitive for both scripts… I could of easily picked 6 or 7… Thank you so very much for sharing your students with me!”

Thank YOU, Scott, and congratulations to Michael! But we’re just getting started: next up, Triple Threat: Narration in April! Will there be one student recognized by all three directors? Or might there be five? Watch this space for more exciting TRIPLE THREAT news in the coming weeks!